Tag Thursday – Fall Bucket List Book Tag

Am I the only one who doesn’t really have a bucket list?

To be honest, I don’t think I have anything much that I want to specifically do in life before I die…besides read all the books in existence which is impossible. Sadly. Anyways, at least I can share with you a few books that you should probably add to your “read-before-I-die” bucket list. If you have such a list.

Many thanks to the lovely Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea for tagging me!! Definitely go check out her blog and her posts, because they are amazing and I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Rules:

  • Link back to the original creator in your post. (Tiffany @ Read By Tiffany)
  • Feel free to use any of Tiffany’s graphics in your post, or create your own!
  • Tag 7 other people at the end of your post, and let them know you’ve tagged them. 

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Ok, I wouldn’t suggest you add this to your “read-before-I-die” list. It’s pretty meh, but it is the kind of book that you read just for the sake of reading something funny and light.

I was left feeling disappointed by this. It was good, funny, and I really liked Clare, but that was pretty much it. I guess there are different types of introverts, but to me, Nina was a lot braver and more extroverted than me. And I felt like this book was trying ot cover too many subplots, without really doing one very well. There was so much potential with the family drama with her dad’s family that could have been explored more, or maybe it could have focused on the trivia aspect, or just done the bookshop disaster very well.

But it’s still a fun and lighthearted book. I would recommend you add this to your “read-for-some-laughs” list.


The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

I think this one had a decent amount of hype. I’m pretty sure it did, and I just ignored it, until I heard that it was similar to Six of Crows, and that Séverin and Kaz could be friends and I added it to my TBR without a second thought. Okay, I did check out the synopsis and stuff first, but still…

This was good. Not a spectacular-took-my-breath-away kind of good, but a I-loved-the-riddles-and-some-of-the-characters kind of good. Hypnos, Zofia, and Enrique were my favorite characters, and I loved the relationships between all of them. The riddles were super interesting, but the heists themselves weren’t really amazing. Basically, this book was good, but could have been much better.


The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Now this is a book that you need to add to your “read-before-I-die” list. I will never stop screaming about how amazing this book is, because it is truly amazing.

The friendships between Tess and Vivvie, and Asher and Henry are amazing, and I love how there is no possible hint of a romance between any of them. It’s all absolutely platonic, and sweet. Asher is the annoying mischievous guy who cares about everyone, Vivvie is a precious ray of sunshine and happiness, and Tess and Henry are the serious and threatening geniuses who do everything to protect everyone close to them.

I loved it the first time I read it, I loved it again when I first re-read it, and I loved it a third time when I did my 2nd re-read. This book is amazing you guys, and I plan on writing a better review than what last-year-me wrote, but in the meanwhile, I highly suggest you add it to your TBR!! If you go read it right now, that’s even better!!! But I won’t push it


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This book didn’t just warm my heart. It broke it.

The story of Liesel, Max, Papa, Mama, Rudy, oh that saukerl Rudy, was one that brought a huge smile to my face. Because even though Liesel and her family they are in the middle of a war, even though they are trying to hide the fact that they don’t support the Fuhrer, even though they are hiding a Jew in their basement, they still lived and they were still happy at times.

As the story progressed, and Liesel got older and joined Rudy on all his mischievous adventures, I tried to hope that nothing bad would happen, that the war didn’t exist. Mama and her insults, Papa and his accordion, Max and his stories, Liesel and her books, Rudy and his shenanigans, they all made this book into a nice warm hug that I didn’t want to end or break.

And then that ending happened. This book filled my heart with these beautiful stories and people, and then it ended by shattering everything.


With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Emoni is defintiely a talented chef, and I loved reading about her and her family, and the culinary arts class at her school. The relationships between her and Buela, Babygirl, Angelica, and Malachi was super sweet and I really liked how she narrated the story.

Emoni didn’t make food that just tasted or looked amazing. She made food that brought back memories, that told a story, that went into your soul and brought out all your feelings. I loved her creativity, and the fire that she used to prepare everything she made.


Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Honestly, I wasn’t really jumping for joy, figuratively or really, about this, or about any book in general, but I do remember that I was seriously excited to hear that JLB was publishing a new series last year. And that’s how I read Little White Lies.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember what happened in this book at all. But I gave it 4 stars, so hopefully it was some good. The next book in the series was actually published last month, and since it’s JLB, I want to read it, but I’ll probably have to re-read Little White Lies first so that I know what’s going on.


Tagging:

Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads | Aimee @ My Addiction to Fiction

Jane @ Blogger Books | Evelyn @ Evelyn Reads | Octavia @ Mythical Reads

Nikki @ The Night is Dark and Full of Books | Aelyn @ Aelyn Reads


Chat with me

That’s it for this Thursday! Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Do you have a bucket list? What are some books that you think I need to read right away? Chat with me in the comments below!!

WWW Wednesday #39

Welcome back! I hope you are having a great day! It is time for my weekly reading update, WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

I missed last week’s post, so I’m going to combine last week’s and this week’s WWW Wednesday’s together.

Let’s get started!

All covers are from Goodreads

What I Just Finished:

Crooked Kingdom: I’m so happy everything turned out okay except for you know what. Why Bardugo? Why? That was pretty heartbreaking, and just awful. But I’m glad that everyone got what they wanted at the end. You can check out my possibly spoilery non-official review on GR. (Read: Nov 20)

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was kind of disappointing. I was just left with a sense of wanting more. However, the story was pretty good. It wasn’t remarkable or anything, and it did try to cover too many subplots all at once without properly doing just one, but it was still a fun read. (Read: Nov 23)

The Long Game was amazing, and I loved all the twists. Even though this was my 3rd reread, I was still surprised and absolutely enjoyed reading this all over again. Asher, Tess, Vivvie, and Henry, they are all amazing characters. (Read: Nov 25)

That was a surprise. Crown of Midnight was so so so much better than Throne of Glass and I’m surprised. I didn’t expect this at all, and I loved how it showed more of Celaena’s assassin side, rather than just telling us how amazing she is. But I wish this mess with Chaol never happened. He doesn’t really deserve this. (Read: Dec 1)

I finished The Gilded Wolves last night, and even though I can see why it gets compared to SoC, I think it’s different in it’s own way. I really liked Zofia and Enrique, and eventually Hypnos (he’s very hard to not like), and Tristan reminded me so much of Wylan and I loved it. The heists are spectacular, and I loved how Chokshi incorporated history and math into it. It made it so much more fun to solve. (Read: Dec 3)

What I’m Currently Reading:

I’m currently reading Hungry Hearts, and I’ll be starting The Lines We Cross hopefully later today.

What I Plan To Read Next:

Next up is The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson, and Lock Every Door by Riley Sager.

Chat with me

That’s it for this Wednesday. What are you reading? Have you read The Gilded Wolves? Do you think it’s really similar to Six of Crows? Have you read any of the books above? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s so that I can check them out!)

Monthly Wrap-Up: November 2019

Good morning! I hope you had an amazing weekend! Today, I’m going to be doing my monthly wrap-up for November of 2019.

It’s unbelievable how fast the year has gone by. I mean there are literally 29 days left of 2019! A new decade is about to start!! Please tell me I’m not the only one absolutely anxious, scared, and excited about this!!!

November was an interesting month. I got the last week off of school, so that was great, but all my plans for blogging and reading…didn’t happen unfortunately. The beginning of the month was great and I was super excited, but then it kind of dipped from there.

Books:

Covers are from Goodreads

I read 7 books, which is a bit of a disappointment since I read 13 books last month. I’ve got to read 14 books by the end of the year to reach my goal of 100. I’m not sure if I’ll make it, but hopefully I will. I did read some of the books on my Nov TBR, but not all, and I didn’t write a review for any of them lol. However, the links lead to my unofficial thoughts on Goodreads.

BookAuthorRating
An Unwanted GuestShari Lapena★★★★☆
The Scorpio RacesMaggie Stiefvater★★★★★
A Darker Shade of MagicV.E. Schwab★★★★★
Crooked KingdomLeigh Bardugo★★★★★
The Fixer (Buddy Read)Jennifer Lynn Barnes★★★★★
The Bookish Life of Nina HillAbbi Waxman★★★☆☆
The Long Game (Buddy Read)Jennifer Lynn Barnes★★★★★

I also did 2 official reviews. I have so many backlogged reviews that I honestly need to write, but don’t feel like it. Maybe I’ll do more in December? or probably I’ll just wait and really start writing them in the upcoming decade 😉

Three Days Missing by Kimberly Belle // Rating: ★★★★☆ One sentence summary: An interesting thriller with great characters and an underwhelming reveal.

Vengeful by V.E. Schawb // Rating: ★★★★★ One sentence summary: A great sci-fi thriller with amazing characters and an intriguing plot.

Total Number of Books Read This Month: 7
Total Number of Reviews: 2

Tags:

Well, technically I did only 1 tag, but since I answered some questions in a tag-ish kind-of format for my 200 Q&A Answer post, I shall count that as a tag as well.

Behind the Blog: 200 Follower Q&A Answers (Thank you so much guys for asking questions and helping me reach 200!)

Blogger Recognition Award (Thank you so much Emer!)

Let’s Talk Bookish

What Makes a Great Book?

Reading Books Outside of Your Age Range

Plot or Characters?

Do You Have To Every Book You Read?

How Reading Has Changed My Life

Great Posts From Around the Blog-O-Sphere:

Sarah @ Written Word Worlds talks about what is considered a problematic book.

Vicki @ Vicky Who Reads talks about what to do if your favorite books are problematic and I love + and – idea!!

Veronika @ Wordy and Whimsical shares the tropes that she doesn’t want to see in books anymore and I agree with every single one.

Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea gives advice on how to keep you audience’s attention and I found it really helpful!

Anything Else?

I had the whole of the previous week off, and I didn’t write/draft any extra posts. I’m really disappointed. I had a horrible migraine one day and then I went out some other days, and I just didn’t get anything done. I’d been planning all month, I was pretty excited, and it didn’t happen. Oh well.

I’ve been thinking about doing some different and hopefully interesting posts including a book recommendation post so if that’s something you’d like to see let me know in the comments!

I also still haven’t posted the LTB topics for this month, but I’m going to try and post them tomorrow. Sorry!

That’s A Wrap!

In the end, I read 7 books, did 2 reviews, 2 tags, and 5 LTB discussion posts. 6 of the books were 4 or 5 stars, so that’s amazing. I only met my goal of writing at least 3 discussion posts that I set for November, so hopefully I’ll do better this month.

My goals for this month are to read 14 books (at least 10), do 4 or 5 tags, 3 reviews, and 4 LTB posts.

And that’s it for this wrap-up! How was November for you? How many books did you read? What do you think about problematic books? Would you like to see a book recommendation post? Any ideas for more creative posts that I can try out? Anything you’d like to share? Let’s chat in the comments below!

WWW Wednesday #38

Hey friends! I hope you are having a fantastic day! It is time for my weekly reading update, WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words.

The Three W’s are:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

Let’s get started!

All covers are from Goodreads

What I Just Finished:

A Darker Shade of Magic was a pleasant surprise. I really liked Kell, would have loved more of Rhy, and Lila was an interesting character. There was a bit of info dumping and it was kind of slow in the beginning, but I liked knowing how everything worked. I’m wondering how it’s a series, when there was no cliffhanger or something at the end, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Rhy and Kell.

I just finished my re-read of The Fixer, and it is still just as amazing. I loved the characters, and the plot twists, and I noticed some new things this time around. Asher is the best, Vivvie is the sweetest, and Henry and Tess are fighting for the title of the deadliest. I loved the odd friendship between them all. (BR with Amelia)

What I’m Currently Reading:

I’m going to start The Long Game today!

I’m 67% into Crooked Kingdom and the banter is everything. I missed this team so so much, and I’m loving how this has a lot more heists going on. And I forgot how absolutely ruthless Kaz is. And this scheme that they’re plotting, I really hope it goes right. It has to.

What I Plan To Read Next:

Next up is The Bookish Life of Nina Hill, or Hungry Hearts, or Crown of Midnight.

Chat with me

That’s it for this Wednesday. What are you reading? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think? Am I the only one who’s dying with worry and hoping that Kaz’s latest crazy scheme goes right? Let’s chat in the comments below! (Be sure to link to your WWW’s so that I can check them out!)

Monthly TBR: November 2019

Good morning or afternoon or evening! Welcome to my To-Be-Read list for November 2019!

Last month, I had a TBR post, and I managed to read 13 books, which I’m super proud of. And so hopefully, maybe if I have a TBR for each month, I’ll be able to continue reading more, and catch up on my GR reading challenge. And maybe I’ll end up not reading anything at all, but I’m still pretty hopeful that this TBR will work.

Anyways, let’s get started!

In my last TBR post, I just dumped a bunch of books that I wanted to read, and their summaries together, but this time, I’m going to split them between the book that I’ve Already Read, Books that I’m going to Buddy Read, and Library Borrows/Holds. That should give this some semblance of order.


Already Read

  • The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. (Read: Nov. 2) This was a really great book and the end shattered me. It was a little slow, but Liesel’s adventures, her friendship with Rudy, Mama and Papa, Max, book stealing, and all the mismatched characters on Himmel Street were amazing and that ending hurt. so. much.
  • An Unwanted Guest by Shari Lapena. (Read: Nov. 4) A very good thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t guess who the killer was at all, and the two twists at the end were really good.
  • The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. (Read: Nov. 10) It was really heartwarming, and I loved the characters, their struggles, the theme of finding where you belong, and the magic of the water horses. Finn is adorable and a real gem, and I loved Puck and Sean’s relationship, and how it didn’t overpower the plot or consume each of their lives. Their bonds with their horses was beautiful and that ending was so peaceful, and perfect, and I’m so happy that I read this. (I also have a recipe for November Cakes and I’m so excited!!)

Books to Buddy Read

  • The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Buddy re-read 11/11 with Amelia (E-book)
  • The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Buddy re-read sometime in November

Library Borrows/Holds

I’m going to order these based on their due dates, the ones that I can renew, and the ones that I’ll be getting soon.

  • A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab. Due 11/23, E-book
  • Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Due 11/24, E-book
  • Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin. Due 11/24, E-book
  • The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman. Due 11/27, E-book
  • Beartown by Fredrik Backman. Renewable, Hardcover
  • The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Renewable, Hardcover

Chat with me

So all in all, I should probably read around 13 or 14 books this month which is a great number. What are you reading this November? Do you have a set TBR or are you a mood reader? Have you read any of the books above? If so, what did you think? Chat with me in the comments below!